Wisdom's Lightning
by LittleCabbage
Summary: Elizabeth Mathews was a normal girl. She had a loving father, adorable half-brother, annoying step-sister, and evil step-mother. When her father told Elizabeth that she'd be going to the very same summer camp that he attended as a teen she was ecstatic. Then her life was forever changed, for better or worse.
1. Chapter 1

**This is my first story on here so comments and suggestions are greatly appreciated.** **Thank you! - LittleCabbage**

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I slept restlessly. My sleep was plagued with nightmares that left me with a feeling of doom when I woke. I used to have nightmares like this when I was little, but hadn't had one in years. This surprise reoccurrence had taken its toll. As I looked in the mirror I saw that my dark blonde hair was tangled and there were dark circles under my eyes. My eyes change daily between shades of grey and blue depending on my mood. Dark grey when I'm mad, light blue when I'm happy, and a startling grey-blue when I'm scared. My eyes were grey-blue.

"Elizabeth, Mom made breakfast. She said if you're not down stairs in ten minutes you don't get to eat." My fifteen-year-old step-sister Madeline said. I was so engrossed in my shocking appearance that I hadn't even noticed her walk into my room and sit on my bed. My father had married my step-mother, Gwen, when I was six months old so she is the only mother that I've ever known, but she's never treated me like she does Madeline. My father's away with work most of the time so he never sees how Gwen treats me. Luckily my Dad's taking me to a summer camp today at noon so I get a summer free of my wicked step-mother.

I throw on a pair of jeans and a T-shirt that's lying on the floor and run a brush threw my hair as I make my way down the stairs. Where my step-mother lacked in her caring for her only step-daughter she made up for in her cooking. On Madeline's fifteenth birthday she made her a triple layer chocolate cake with homemade icing that was to die for.

"Morning darling." My father placed the newspaper that he was currently reading on the table to stand and kiss my hair. There are three people that I'm certain I love; My Dad, My Grandma, and little Ben.

"Morning Daddy. I can't wait for camp." My father went to the same camp that he's bringing me to when he was a teenager. He's something of a big shot there. It's not hard to see why though, my dad's a natural leader. He has this something that just makes people listen to him. You can see it in his electric blue eyes that command attention. It suites him well with his being a CEO and all.

"All your bags are packed and ready? Do you have all of the books that you want to bring? What about your phone?" For some reason campers aren't allowed to have cell phones with them, but my dad's making me bring mine for emergency cases. I was packed weeks ago. Packing clothes wasn't the difficult part, the hard part was figuring out which books I wanted to bring. I literally have a whole library worth of books in my bedroom. And at the age of ten I'd read all of the books at our local library. Madeline says I'm a nerd, but I prefer the term 'smarter than you'.

"Yes, yes, and yes." The clock over the kitchen table read; 11:30 so I shoved food into my mouth. The faster I ate the faster we could leave.

"All righty then once I finish eating I'm going to take a shower and then we can leave." I had a grin on my face as I walked down the hall to Ben's room.

Benjamin Thomas Mathews is my four-year-old half-brother. He was a surprise to us all because Madeline was eleven and I was eight when Gwen gave birth to him, but truthfully I think he was the best thing to happen to this family. Ben doesn't have a mean bone in his body which is a good thing considering who his mother is. Walking in his room I see the normal scene, Ben at his desk with crayons and paper.

"Hey Buddy, whatcha doing?" little Ben turn around so fast when he hears my voice you would think he'd have whiplash. His bright blue eyes, same as dads, stare at me joyfully.

"Lizzy, I made you a drawing! Daddy said you're going away so I made you a going away drawing." He hands me a typical little kid drawing with the stick people and their names. There's Ben holding onto a leash and dog only we don't have a dog, Gwen wearing what looks like an apron, Madeline on her phone, Dad holding some foreign gold object with a lightning bolt above his head, and me. I look the strangest. Ben put both a lightning bolt and what looks like an owl above my head.

"It's really good Benny. Thank you, but I have some questions. What's Dad holding? And why are there lightning bolts over dad and I's heads? And an owl over me?" Ben turned around and seriously said,

" The lady told me to put them there."


	2. Chapter 2

"What lady?" I ask figuring that she's just one of Ben's imaginary friends.

"The lady with the pet peacock. She had a crown on her head." Ben said starting on another drawing. This one was of a woman, but unlike Ben's usual drawings this one was completely realistic. The woman appeared to be a queen due to the jewel incrusted crown she wore and the cold look on her face. It said that terrible things would happen if you dared challenge her. And for some odd reason she seems familiar. This was starting to get weird.

"Elizabeth? You need to hurry or we'll be late arriving. I told the director that we'd be there in time for dinner, so if you want to have time for me to eat with you you'd better hurry," my dad called from some where in the house. Looking at my watch it read 11:58.

"Look Buddy its time for me to go, but I'll see you soon okay? I'll call as soon as we get there," I said bending down to kiss Ben's head. He gave me a hug so tight that it made it hard to breath and then handed me both of the drawings. Leaving Ben is probably going to be the hardest part of leaving- well next to leaving Dad. I start to tear up as I walk out of Ben's room. Truthfully he feels more like my own child than my little brother, but that's mostly due to the fact that Gwen never did much child rearing. The next three months at camp will be the hardest three months of my life because I've never gone more than a day without seeing my little Benny.

Climbing into the car I felt excitement stir in my stomach, but for some unknown reason also fear.

"Are you ready," my dad asks. Am I ready for what may possibly be the most exciting three months of my life?

"Yes." And with that we were off to my new home for the next three months.

The entire car ride was about six hours to get from Boston, where we live, to New York City, where the camp is located. Although I was only awake for about two of those hours, the other four were spent having nightmares like the one I had last night. I don't really remember how I got rid of my nightmares last time, but whenever I try to remember I picture this woman. She's smiling and her warm grey eyes make her look very caring. I'm not really sure who she is, but I've always thought that she might be my mother.

Dad stops at the bottom of a hill. While we were driving I saw a sign that said something about strawberries. Why would we be stopping at a strawberry field?

"Dad? Where are we?"

"Camp Half-Blood. "And with that he steps out of the car and starts up the hill. I awkwardly scramble out of the car and run to catch up to him. Camp Half-Blood? That's an odd name for a camp but even stranger the name gives me a feeling of peace and home. Now that we're farther up the hill I can see a huge pine tree and the entrance to what appears to be Camp Half-Blood. I'm actually surprised that I can read the sign/entrance to camp because I'm dyslexic so usually whenever I try to read words get mixed up. Which is a pain for me because I love to read.

My dad stops right in front of me suddenly causing me to crash into him.

"Dad!" he turns around to face me suddenly all serious, which is something that he rarely is around me.

"Today you're going to learn and see things that won't make any sense, but everything will be explained. This is where you belong. Where we belong. I went to camp here and it very well saved my life. Now you're going to camp here and one day maybe even Ben if I see the need. But you have to trust me and keep an open mind about everything you're going to learn today, okay?" seeing him so serious scared me and even though I didn't understand half of what he's saying I do trust him so I'll do as he says.

"Okay Daddy." My dad then took my hand and together we walked into Camp Half-Blood. Looking around I nearly fainted. No speech anyone could have ever given me could have prepared me for this. There were people with goat legs and a man with the bottom half of a horse. And the horse-man was headed toward us.

"Thomas Mathews. It's been years my friend, and why this must be your lovely daughter Elizabeth. She's the perfect mixture of you and her mother. When Dionysus and I heard that she was going to be a camper we were ecstatic, well about as ecstatic as Dionysus gets."

"You knew my mother?" how did this horse-man know my mother? Did she go to camp here with my dad? He never really talks about her and the one time I did ask he said she was a smart beautifully woman who died in childbirth with me. After that I never asked again. I didn't want him to feel guilty about me being born.

"Correction. I _know _your mother."


	3. Chapter 3

"What do you mean that you know my mom? My mom died years ago in childbirth." I say confusedly. How can this horse-man know my mom if she's dead?

"I think its best we take this inside. Chiron and I have to explain some things first. Remember, you said you'd keep an open mind even if things seemed crazy." My daddy said. The horse-man, probably the 'Chiron' my dad was talking about, walked into the big blue house behind him and we followed. For some reason I felt like I was not going to like what I was about to hear.

For the next two hours my father, who I'd never known to lie, and Chiron, who I'd come to find out was the activities director at camp, tried to convince me that I was some half-goddess half-human called a demigod. Apparently Camp Half-Blood was a camp for Greek demigods and you couldn't enter unless you had godly blood running through your veins. I then asked them how my father, who until recently I'd always though of as a average human being, was able to enter camp then because according to them my mother, who I'd always thought was dead, was my godly parent. When my dad turned to me and said that he too was a demigod, a son of Zeus, it felt like another blow to my chest. Not only had my dad went my whole entire life lying to me about my mother and not only my but also his lineage. Almost the full two hours had gone by before I asked the most important question.

"Who is my mom? Which goddess?" we'd learned about Greek mythology in school and I'd found it so especially fascinating that I'd memorized all of the Greek gods and goddesses. Now I knew why I liked it so I guess. Was my mother Demeter, goddess of the harvest? Or could she be Aphrodite, goddess of love and beauty?

"Elizabeth, your mom is Athena. She's the reason that you love learning. I met her one day in collage. At the time I didn't know who she was, but she knew me. I was known throughout the mythological world not only due to who my father was, but due to the fact that I had done so much for Olympus. It wasn't until she was three months pregnant with you that your mother explained to me who she was and that unfortunately that after you were born she wouldn't get to see you much due to this rule that gods and goddesses can't raise their children. You're so much like her Elizabeth. There's no doubt in my mind that she's proud of you."

Thoughts ran through my mind. So many unanswered questions. I was about to ask my dad how exactly Athena was my mother when she is a virgin goddess when a boy who looked like a tornado swept his hair ran into the room.

"Chiron! A fight broke out between the Ares and Hermes cabins. You need to stop them and quick because someone said something about bring out the fireworks," Tornado Boy said catching his breath. He was a little taller than me, which is saying something because I'm not short by any means, and looked to be about my age. Other than the fact that his hair looked like a bird's nest he was actually kind of attractive, not that I was looking to date him or anything just an observation.

"Alright. I'm sorry but I really must go. I'm sure your dad can answer any of your other questions and Jacob here can show you around camp. Elizabeth will be staying in cabin 1 for tonight, but tomorrow she will decide if she wants to stay in cabin 1 or cabin 6. She's welcome at both, but it up to her. And the claiming will take place tonight at dinner." And then Chiron was gone. Tornado Bo- _Jacob_ turned to me and stuck out his hand,

"Jacob, son of Poseidon and grandson of Hermes. Third year camper. And you?"

"Elizabeth, apparently I'm the daughter of Athena and granddaughter of Zeus. This is all really confusing though. Never in my life had I ever thought I would be a demigod." I said shaking his hand. I felt a spark when I touched him. Not like a metal-in-electric-outlet spark but more like a nice spark.

"Well technically we, you and I, are tri-gods. Demi refers to half and we have three-fourths godly blood. Tri-gods actually aren't that common. I think there's like one other living on and they're like twenty five so they no longer go to camp."

"Sorry, I'm still new and don't know a whole lot about all of this, like what makes us special? Why do we have to come to camp? Is it dangerous to have a godly parent? I want to know it all." I say excitement creeping into my voice. I've never felt this way before. Like I belong. I've always been an out cast, but not here. This is where I belong. I can feel it.

"Everything? That's a lot to explain, but lucky for you I have time." Jacob turned and walked out of the room. I looked at my dad who had jut been standing there silently throughout that exchange and begged him with my eyes to go. In his face I could see how he wanted to be able tell me everything Jacob could, but that he was letting me make my own choices. So I followed Jacob, and couldn't be happier that I did.


	4. Chapter 4

"Do strange things always seem to happen around you? Does your family constantly have to move? Are you dyslexic and or have ADHD?" Jacob asked as we walked past some blond archers who, from what I knew of Greek mythology, were probably children of Apollo. "All of those things, and many more, are because of your godly parentage. The ADHD comes in handy when you're in a fight. The need to constantly move and know where to move, that's what keeps you alive. The dyslexia is because you're brain is hardwired for ancient Greek not modern day English. And the reason you're family is always on the move is because monsters can smell our blood from miles away, especially if the godly blood is very powerful, and will attack."

"What do you mean monsters?" I ask worry creeping into my voice.

"All of those myths you learned in class, well they aren't myths. All of the monsters are real. Like Medusa or the Minotaur." He said pulling my hand and leading me to a clearing that seemed like the calmest place I'd seen in camp so far. There were no kids running around with dangerous weapons here.

"Wait didn't Perseus kill Medusa?" I ask trying to remember all of the myths – no, the _history of my ancestors_.

"Well you see when you kill a monster they don't really 'die' they just sort of disintegrate and teleport back to Tartarus until they are strong enough to come back to the mortal world.

"Tartarus is real too?" I ask in disbelief. When will I stop being shocked?

"Of course." Jacob said looking at me like I was insane for thinking any different.

"Wow. What next? Are you going to tell me that werewolves and vampires are real too?" I ask really not sure I want to know if they are.

"Don't be silly, Lizzy Bear." He says turning to flash me a smile that made my stomach feel funny.

"Don't call me that." I say blushing bright red.

"Whatever you say, Lizzy Bear." I roll my at this boy's stubborn, but cuteness.

The next hour and a half was spent with Jacob explaining the ins and outs of life at camp, and surviving life as tri-gods. If I'm being honest I think I actually like the fact that there are so few tri-gods in the world. It makes me feel special and unique. Jacob ran a hand through his already messy blonde hair making it even messier, if that was even possible.

"Have you ever met you're dad?" I ask Jacob remembering what my dad said about gods not being very involved in their children's lives.

"Yeah, I see my dad about once a year. He's able to get away with breaking that rule more than others because he's one of the Big Three. I even met my grandfather once, but I think that's just because my mom's his favorite child." The fact that Jacob has seen his godly family so few times does not deter me. Rule or no rule, I _will_ see my mom. And grandpa Zeus too.

"You know you have siblings here –well half-siblings, but still. Other children of Athena. You kinda look like them except for you're eyes, nope those are all Zeus. And you project this feeling of leadership that none of the other children of Athena have, you're dad has it too. Like you're natural leaders. You do have all of the intelligence of Athenian children though, you can just sense it when you talk or the way you analyze everything." Jacob tells me looking at me with this strange look in his eyes. I've never noticed how intriguing his eyes are. They are green, but not like normal green eyes. No, his eyes are made up of ever swirling light greens, like my favorite mint hard candy, and darker almost teal colors, and there are specks of a lighter blue here and there. Altogether these colors made up the most intriguing eyes of the most intriguing boy. His eyes are like the sea, which I guess make sense considering his father is Poseidon.

Realizing I'd just been staring very intently into a boys eyes for who knows how long, I quickly look to the ground feeling a blush spread across my face. Three hours in this place and I'm already turning into a blushing schoolgirl.

"That's nice I guess. I have a half-brother at home too. His name is Benjamin and I practically raised him because my stepmother has never been the most maternal creature and Dad was away a lot with work. I have an older stepsister, Madeline, too, but she wants nothing to do with Ben or I. She's too obsessed with her phone and social life." Talking about home made me miss it, well mostly just Ben, even though we only left this morning.

"You're lucky. I've always wanted lots of siblings, but being a son of Poseidon basically ensures against that. Except for one other son, Percy, who's like twenty something now Poseidon doesn't have any other kids. I've never even met Percy because he left camp years ago and moved to New Rome with his girlfriend Annabeth, who also happens to be a daughter of Athena. He was something of a big shot because he saved Olympus more than once." Jacob had already explained earlier about roman demigods and New Rome. What Jacob was saying really got to me. I mean he has one brother in the entire world, someone who just from the look he got his face when he talked about him obviously idolizes him, and he's never even met they guy. The whole demi/tri-god and Greek/Roman world is messed up.

"You know what, Jacob?" I ask turning to my new friend a plan sprouting in my head.

"What?"

"You and me? We're gonna change this fantasy world we're living in. We're gonna make the gods more involved in their kids lives and make one big happy family out of them." I say with absolute confidence. Jacob smiles his smile that makes my stomach squeeze again and says,

"Elizabeth Matthews, I do believe you are now my best friend." And what do I do? Blush of course.


End file.
